“Both Apple and the government just pulled out some fighting words,” Hilary Brueck reports for Fortune. “The feud comes as the two sides prepare to meet in court later this month to dispute whether Apple can be forced to help the government tap into encrypted information locked inside an iPhone.”
“On Thursday the Department of Justice issued a scathing brief, calling Apple’s stance in the case ‘corrosive’ and the company’s rhetoric false,” Brueck reports. “The 43-page court brief also accused Apple of deliberately blocking access for the U.S. government, while cooperating with the Chinese. The DOJ claimed Apple traded confidential customer information with the Chinese government in exchange for access to Chinese markets.”
“Apple responded to the news by airing the fight to the press, hopping on a call with reporters Thursday evening. On the call, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell accused the government of trying to vilify the company,” Brueck reports. “Sewell said the latest filing was a surprising shift in tone from the way the government and the company normally get along. Sewell called the move simply a “cheap shot,” as The New York Times reports. ‘In 30 years of practice, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo,’” Sewell said.”
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MacDailyNews Take: Only one of these entities is competent. The other? Not so much.
Let’s take a look at how well they run their respective houses:
• Apple: Over $215 billion in cash on hand
• U.S. federal government: Over $19 trillion in debtSome additional perspective:
• 1 million seconds equal 11 and 1/2 days.
• 1 billion seconds equal 31 and 3/4 years.
• 1 trillion seconds equal 31,710 years.SEE ALSO:
U.S. government rebuts Apple claim on password reset in iPhone case – March 11, 2016
Apple: U.S. Justice Dept attempting to ‘smear’ company by taking a ‘cheap shot’ – March 10, 2016